Package and methods for making the same



March 12, 1957 slLvER 2,784,539

PACKAGE AND METHODS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug. 20, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l TEA l March 12, 1957 s. M. SILVER 2,784,539

PACKAGE AND METHODS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Aug. 20, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III/x111;

v INVENTOR. 574! M. 5m val? His 0770/? E) PACKAGE AND METHODS FOR MAKING THE SAME Stan M. Silver, Levittown, N. Y., assignor to Louis Silver, New York, N. Y.

Application August 20, 1952, Serial No. 305,435

2 Claims. (CI. 53-44) The present invention relates to a sealed package, and more particularly to a sealed package for relatively small quantities of viscous liquid or powdery or granular solid substances that tend to deteriorate on exposure to the atmosphere, and to methods for producing such packages.

The provision of packages, and especially dispensing packages, for materials of the character described above that are properly sealed when not in use and can withstand relatively rough handling during transportation and during use, as packages for ground oil paints or similar substances, has heretofore presented a problem. Small quantities of such materials have heretofore been generally packaged in dispensing squeeze tubes or in capsules. The first type of package, namely, dispensing tubes, is expensive both from the point of view of package cost as well as from the point of View of the filling thereof. Also, it is difficult to maintain neat and tidy during use. The second type of package, namely, capsules, while being of low initial package cost, presented difficulties in filling and closing, both of which had to be manually and individually done, and presented a further difiiculty of opening for use, especially after the first time, particularly when the contents were liquid. They also presented difliculty in getting at their contents, frequently requiring the squeezing of the capsule to distort it and make it unfit for further closure.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a package of the character described which is formed of relatively low cost materials that are readily available and which may be mass produced and assembled, to make such package of initial low cost.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described which may be easily, conveniently and economically filled.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described which may be easily and rapidly sealed, en masse, at relatively low cost, with a closure that is safe and secure to seal the contents against the atmosphere as well as against any danger of loss of contents during handling or transportation.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described that is sturdy and durable and will not readily break or become otherwise damaged and may take considerable knocking about, as during transportation without being affected thereby.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described which may be safely and securely set up for use of the contents thereof, as during painting with oils, either on a flat surface or on a rack provided for the purpose, without danger of spilling the contents thereof. p

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described that is pro vided with a sealing closure that may be repeatedly opened and closed without losing its eifectiveness.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described that is nited States Patent Patented Mar. 12, 1957 convenient for the use of its contents directly from the package.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a package of the character described the contents of which are clearly and distinctly visible from the exterior thereof, to make selection a simple and easy matter.

It is a further, primary object of the present invention to devise simple, convenient and economical methods for the mass production of the packages of the present invention.

The foregoing and other advantages and superiorities of the packages of the present invention and the methods for producing them will become more readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the embodiment thereof more or less diagrammatically shown in the accompanying drawings and from the description following. It is to be understood, however, that such embodiment is shown by Way of illustration only, to make the principles and practice of the invention more readily comprehensible, and without any intent of limiting the invention to the specific details therein shown.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of one embodiment of a package of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view thereof;

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a first step in the mass production of the packages of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary plan view illustrating a second step in the mass production of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a similar view illustrating a further step in the mass production of the packages of the invention; the broken lines indicating the application of a final step in such production; and

Fig. 8 is a section taken on line 88 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a section taken through a modified embodiment of a package of the present invention.

Generally stated, the present invention resides in the provision of a package consisting of an open top flat bottom receptacle which is set into either an integral or otherwise supplied fiat table section of substantial area that is substantially flush with and surrounds the cup opening on all sides thereof, and of a pressure tape seal that overlies the cup opening and is adhesively secured to the surrounding table surface.

The invention further consists of a method whereby the cups are set or formed in a common table, en masse, are sealed en masse, after filling and then are severed from one another en masse. Referring more specifically to the accompanying draw ings, and with particular reference to the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. l-4, such package comprises a substantially cup shaped receptacle 10, havmg an open top, as at 11, a fiat bottom 12, and a side wall 13, the upper end of which is outwardly offset to form a flat flange 14.

The cup 16 is preferably but not necessarily round and is preferably press-fitted into an opening 16, formed in flat, preferably rigid section of preferably smoothsurfaced sheet material 17, as of cardboard or the like, which forms an enlarged flange or table surrounding the opening 11 of the cup 19 on all sides thereof, to provide an area over which may be secured a strip of a pressure tape 18, preferably of a transparent material.

The table 17 may preferably be formed with one fiat edge 19; the other edges being curved, as illustrated, and the edge of the tape 18, adjacent the table edge 19, may preferably overlie and be adhesively secured to a relatively thick finger piece or tab 20 that may have a legend 21 identifying the cup contents printed thereon.

In the embodiment of Fig. 9, the cup 23 and the surrounding table 24 are shown as being integrally formed of one piece of sheet material, as of metal or plastic.

For the provision of the filled and sealed packages of the present invention at low cost, to make them economically dispensable, these packages may be mass produced as follows:

A plurality of flat, preferably rigid boards, such as the paper board 25, may each be die cut, with the same die, to form therein a plurality of parallel rows of openings 16 therein, with the openings preferably evenly spaced from one another. The boards 25 may be originally of uniform size and shape or may be die cut to uniform size and shape at the same time that the openings 16 are formed therein, to make them suitable for further, uniform, die cutting operations.

Following the perforation, preformed cups are set into each of the openings 16 of the board an operation which, even if manually performed, is very rapid and easy. After all of the cups 10 are in place on the board 25, they are filled, preferably, though not necessarily, with the same material. The filling may be accomplished manually or mechanically, and, because of the relatively large openings of the cups 110, such filling, even if manual, may be easily and quite rapidly and economically accomplished.

After all of the cups on a board 25 are filled, a preferably continuous strip of tab material 19, preferably of double width, is arranged between each pair of rows of openings 16 and their cups 111, and a preferably continuous strip of pressure tape 18 is arranged over eachrow of cups 10, with one edge of such strip overlying and adhesively secured to an edge of the tab strip 19. After the pressure tape is thus secured in place over all of the rows of cups 110, thus simultaneously sealing all of the cups in each row, the filled and sealed board 25 is again die cut simultaneously between the rows of cups, along the center of the tab strip 19, where present, and between individual cups in each row, to form, in a single die-cutting operation, a substantially large number of separate, completely filled and sealed packages.

It may here be stated that the double width tab strip 19 may carry a double reproduction of legends 20, one along each longitudinal edge thereof, repeated along such edge in front of each cup 10, with the legend along each cup arranged to face away therefrom for easy reading, so that when the board 25 is die-cut to sever the packages from one another, each package will have its appropriate legend 20 on its individual tab 19.

It may here also be stated that when the receptacles for the packages are integrally formed with their table portions, as illustrated in Fig. 9, they may also be formed in multiple, by forming, as by spinning or die pressing or molding, a plurality of flat bottom, cup-shaped recesses 23 arranged in spaced relation to one another in spaced, parallel rows, in a single sheet of flat, rigid material; the filling and sealing operations and the severing operation may then be carried out as above described.

This completes the description of the packages of the present invention and the method for their mass-production. It will be readily apparent that such packages are strong, sturdy and durable, that they are safely and securely sealed; that they are convenient to open and reseal for repeated use; that they are convenient and economical to produce and, therefore, readily expendable; and that they may be produced by means of relatively simple and inexpensive means with standard and relatively cheap machinery.

'It will also be apparent that numerous variations and modifications in the packages of the present invention and in the methods for their production may be made by any one skilled in the art in accordance with the principles of the invention hereina'bove set forth and without the use of any inventive ingenuity. I desire, therefore, to be protected for any and all such variations and modifications that may be made within the spirit of the present invention and the scope of the claims hereto appended.

What I claim is:

1. The method for mass producing filled and sealed packages which comprises the steps of arranging a plurality of open-top, cup-shaped receptacles in a substantially rigid, flat sheet of material with their openings substantially flush with the surface of the sheet material, in spaced, parallel rows, with the receptacles in each row spaced from one another, filling each of the receptacles, arranging a strip of tab material between each pair of rows of receptacle openings, applying a strip of pressure tape to the surface of the sheet material overlying each row of receptacle openings with one edge thereof overlying said tab strip, and then severing said sheet material, simultaneously between each pair of rows of receptacles, along the tab strip between them and between the receptacles in each row, to thereby simultaneously form a plurality of individual packages, each having a receptacle, a surrounding portion of sheet material and an attached section of pressure tape having a tab along one edge thereof.

2. The method for mass-producing filled and sealed packages which comprises the steps of forming a plurality of openings in a substantially rigid, flat sheet of material, said openings spaced from one another and arranged in spaced parallel rows, inserting an open-top, cup-shaped receptacle into each of said openings with its opening edge substantially flush with the surface of the sheet, filling all of the cups, arranging a strip of tab material between each pair of rows of receptacles, applying pressure tape to the surface of the sheet material simultaneously over a plurality of said receptacle openings and said tab strips, and then simultaneously severing said sheet material between rows of said receptacles along said tab strips and between the receptacles in each row, to thereby simultaneously form a plurality of packages, each having a receptacle, a surrounding section of sheet material and an attached section of pressure tape having a tab along an edge thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,689,018 Froidevaux Oct. 23, 1928 1,733,998 Rosen Oct. 29, 1929 1,915,503 Schmidt June 27, 1933 1,944,050 Wolkenhauer Jan. 16, 1934 2,008,361 Lindsey July 16, 1935 2,034,747 Collins Mar. 24, 1936 2,042,073 Rose May 26, 1936 2,061,139 Cohen Nov. 17, 1936 2,089,244 Ansehl Aug. 10, 1937 2,091,126 Speer Aug. 24, 1937 2,138,241 Koch et al. Nov. 29, 1938 2,356,920 Vaughn Dec. 26, 1944 2,384,494 Schutter Sept. 11, 1945 2,428,498 McWilliams Oct. 7, 1947 2,568,625 Harvey Sept. 18, 1951 2,676,428 Silver Apr. 27, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 94,859 Germany Mar. 14, 1897 393,199 Great Britain June 1, 1933 

